The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1887-02-08
SOME QUEER OCCUPATIONS,
Odd Ways OF Making Living That
Some New Yorkcrs Haxe Adontci.

New York has not attained tho unique
distinction recently boasted by Paris of
maintaining beggar factory for maim-
ing litt}e children, 30 as to render them
objects of pity. Neither has it vet
reached up to London in the possession of
NECESSARY stores,' wherein every earth
ly thing IN use by man is kept on sale.
But, after sll. New York is big enough
to supply msly ingenious persons with
very curious occupations. Tho scheme
of o'ir "clean towel company" newly
started for supplying business Offices with
clean towels and soap, we ought not to
boast of. since we borrowed their notion
from Chicago. We are alone, however,
IN patiently permitting an audacious Teu-
tom near Chatham square to keep hand
organs In mischief by repairing them.
He assumes TO replenish them with now
tunes, but. Of course, that IS fiction;
for no hand organ was ever heard to play
any bat bald headed and middle aged
music New York maintains, also, at
lenst ONE establishment for fitting little
children for the stage and ballet.
Two courageous New Workers. follow
the useful but unpoetic business Of hang
Ing their fellow citizens. They are not
prejudicsed in favor Of New Workers., but
are easily persuaded to hang men else
where throughout tho Union. 1t is al
ways pretended that no one knows their
names and that only the sheriff Of this
county has their addresses. One is a
Hebrew. dubbed "Isaacs," and the other
Is German, called 'Menzeshcimcr;"
but tho city always Jumps them both
under the orac name of Joseph B. Atlsin-
son, and under that name they draw
their pay. They rig the gallows and
finally cut the rope One other sanguinary
citizen, n Twenty third street, swings q
shingle declaring him to be Tho De-
stroyer of Motha.",
-Four prosperous citizens earn their
livelihood as doctors for the lap dogs of
rich worncn. Az rule, the only medi-
cine tNy use is starvation. They fling
the dear pets into barred boxes and de-
Prive them Of food for four days. having
found out that the usual trouble with pct
dogs is that they arc fed extravaga utly
and improperly. Just east of the Bowery,
In tenement house. resides man whose
business it is to rent himself and his
Punch and Judy show to children's par
ties III the brownstone wards. A person
on the Bowery keeps six or eight girls
busy framing wreaths and pictures of
tomostoReS, wlIereon are set forth the
virtues of deceased New Workers. lie
follows where TIE death notices In the
papers lead him, and works upon the
feelings Of the grief stricken families.
A rich ltalian employs horde of his
countrys1aen TO trim OK balance the loads
upon E.e sco~s of our street sweeping
department These trinmcrs save for
him all the rags. fat, bone, metal and
other convertible refuse flung into the
houscholders' ash barrels. Another man
Is making fortune by carrying OF al,
the waste and refuse the city will not re-
move, such as builders leavings. dir,
from cellar diggings and 20 on. The
builders pay him to take it, and then he
sells it Ia the suburbs for filing In sunke,,
lands.
Only one man In town pretends to keep
photographs of all the notable persons in
the world. There is not room for two in
the business. Another citizen sells to
public men and corporations clippings
from oil the newspapers that mention
them at five cents clipping. added to
subscription fee each year. Yet another
citizen hunts up coats of arme and ped
ipees for all those who think theirs have
been overlooked, or that they may get
them from families of the seme. or nearly
the same, names as their own This Is
quite English and therefore popular It is
said that the carriage makers are giving
away coats of arms like chron,os. Law
yer Ed. Price, the ex-pugilist, has
monopoly as the attorney for the Chinese.
The iaundrymen all seek him when In
trouble. and always pay him in silver dol
lars. The trade in painting black eyes
with mixture Of six parts white paint
and one part red now boasts several es-
tablishments. 1t is not popularzing the
black eye. because 1t only covers up the
scandal without removing the recollection
OF the accompanying ''lcking."
One New Yorker has posted himself
about all the unclaimed estates in christen-
dom and thus profits by weakness more
generous than most folks imagine. An
other New Yorker searches the streets at
night with lantern for coins and purses
dropped during tho evening. A woman,
near tho city hall, takes caro- of the
babies whose widowed mothers have gone
out to work. and who check them. like
umbrellas, In the morning and call for
them in the evening. Many women in
the east side tenements take care Of a
baby or two for their neighbors, but this
downtown one is, think. the only reg,,-
Lar baby safe deposit company or storage
warehouse in town. There is no matri-
monial agency or husbands exchange
newspaper here just now. There have,
been many but all have failed. That
scheme is not 80 profitable as that of
man met tho other day wAo told me he
trained valuable dogs TO oome straight
back to him as often as he sold them.
Julian Ralph in Mail and Express.